First West Coast Trail expedition of the 2013 season a success!! Conditions: Slippery!!

Just returned yesterday from my first hike of the West Coast Trail for the 2013 season. I'm going to aim to hike the full trail at least once a month this season to get sense of how the trail changes over the months. My first impression of May: difficult, wet, slippery, muddy, but not busy. Regarding my last post about structures, one peril of hiking the WCT in the early season is that the trail crew has not yet had time to upgrade the trail structures more than absolutely necessary, so some of the boardwalks and bridges were sketchier than I remember when I hiked it in August. Also, the little traffic and abundant winter precipitation means that the boardwalks are slipperiest at this time of year. Many of them require what we termed a 'granny walk', shuffling along as if we were treading on ice. Slow-going. But better than slipping and breaking a leg. A full update to come, along with pics.